


Agent Mothman Files: Urban Legends

by XxTrashyAlienScumxX



Category: Creepypasta - Fandom, Invader Zim, SCP Foundation
Genre: Adult Content, Adult Dib (Invader Zim), Adult Zim (Invader Zim), Aged-Up Dib (Invader Zim), Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Alternate Universe - Horror, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Bad Parent Professor Membrane, Body Horror, Confused Dib (Invader Zim), Creepy, Creepypasta, Cryptozoology, Dark Magic, Dib & Zim Friendship (Invader Zim), Dib Has Issues (Invader Zim), Dib and Gaz are Siblings (Invader Zim), Dib is Of Legal Age (Invader Zim), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Dib/Zim (Invader Zim), Eventual Fluff, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Fear, Fear of Death, For Science!, Frenemies Dib & Zim (Invader Zim), Gaz & Zim Friendship (Invader Zim), Gaz Being Gaz (Invader Zim), Ghost Hunters, Ghosts, Good Parent Professor Membrane, Horror, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Irken Empire (Invader Zim), Irkens (Invader Zim), Irkens are Terrible (Invader Zim), Lesbian Gaz (Invader Zim), Mad Science, Magic, Magical Artifacts, MaybeTaGr, MaybeZaDrIdkYet, Monster Hunters, Monsters, Multi, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Oblivious Professor Membrane, Older Dib (Invader Zim), Paranormal, Paranormal Investigators, Portals, Post-Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus, Professor Membrane Tries to Be a Better Parent, Protective Professor Membrane, Psychological Horror, References to Supernatural (TV), Scary, Scary Clowns, Scary Movies, Science, Science Boyfriends, Science Experiments, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Spirit World, Spirits, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Suicide Notes, Supernatural Elements, Tentacle Monsters, Trigger Warnings, Urban Legends, Xenophiliac Dib (Invader Zim)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:15:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23751430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxTrashyAlienScumxX/pseuds/XxTrashyAlienScumxX
Summary: Agent Mothman has been skipping out on the network lately. No reports, no files, no calls...Why? Because he's been fucked by the most scariest thing yet. Life.However with a little push from his sister he gets the courage to push his fathers exceptions aside and pursue his true dream of paranormal hunting. Replacing long boring hours of science he didn't care for with urban legends, haunted locations, reading up on lore and looking for mythical creatures. Maybe even meeting some new aliens...?Could this be the beginning of the adventures of Agent MothMan?... 🦋
Relationships: Dib & Zim (Invader Zim), Dib (Invader Zim) & Original Character(s), Dib/Zim (Invader Zim), Gaz & Tak (Invader Zim)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

Hard rain falling on a 1967 Chevy Impala mixed with a low radio ambiance as the disappointment of a human sat in the empty parking lot in front of his University. Dreading going home for spring break. Not only because his father would probably push him into an internship at Membrane labs but because he also didn’t want to deal with his reaction from this semester's grades. They were all terrible except for his favorite classes like Western Civilization History, Astrophysics, and Psychology. On the side he would take photography/photoshop and the non credited paranormal classes. But he wasn’t going to let him know that. The strict science things never really interested him that much. Biology or pathology was helpful and okay. But nuclear physics and theoretical particle physics was just too much for him. That was forced on by his father who wanted him to work in the lab so badly so he could take over one day if anything ever happened.    
  
Yeah it was probably a little smart to do that and would be helpful… but still. He had two kids! Why didn’t he couldn’t he push Gaz into it?! She liked his work a lot more than he did anyway. Apart from her video games and pizza. Why couldn’t he get her to work in the labs? She wasn’t a full time student! At least not from what he’s seen. She’s only taken like two or three classes. Nuclear physics, Engineering, and Robotics. Which was surprising honestly… he thought she would have gone for game design or animation.    
  
Groaning at the thought he leaned forward and let his head hit the wheel horn button letting an ungodly loud honk echo in the abyss.But he didn’t care. Maybe he could stay here at the college? Dorm with the only friend he had right? Wrong. Apparently co-ed wasn’t a thing here and he had already tried moving into his own room. It was terrible. Not only because the idiots and professors here were jerks or perverts, but any room he tried to stay in was haunted by the school ghost. It wasn’t that he was afraid of her or anything, she was just awkward, clingy, and possessive. She had even managed to scare away a few of his acquaintances or dates. The poor soul never really did explain what happened to her, but he was pretty sure it was suicide from either bullies, loneliness, or stress. He’d almost felt bad when he left, but he just couldn’t handle waking up to her sitting on his chest every morning staring at him! Of course she was furious then depressed for a while that she hadn’t shown up for a few months. 

Eventually she got over it and came back to haunt the school again. He would catch her sitting out on the bridge over the school lake or hanging around the game rooms scaring off the egotistical jocks. Sometimes she would even walk along Dibs side in the school garden or sit with him when he would read his books. In a way it was her form of telling him she was sorry and forgave him for leaving her. It was rare for them to ever actually have a real conversation though, most of the time it was just a silenced company. But it was still nice. She was probably the only other soul that was close to being a friend.   
  
He had another friend, but she was a story for a different day.    
  
“Hey!!!” The angry shouting was followed by rapid hard knocking on the window. 

Dib slightly jumped at the knocking and quickly sat up. He reached down to slightly roll the window into a small crack.   
  
“DO YOU MIND?! PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP! Unlike your lazy ass some of us still have work and other classes to get to early in the morning!” The random stranger shouted angry.   
  
Lazy? Hah! If Dib had the strength he would have probably told this dick off.And if he was so busy in the morning what the hell was he doing out here in the middle of the night standing in the rain with no umbrella? He could have easily just called security or something. Rolling his eyes a bit he shook his head and shrugged. “Sorry.”An annoyed sigh had been all he could offer as he watched the annoyed student storm off. He rolled up his window and started the car. He couldn’t be too mad really… it was a little late to be weeping on his horn.    
  
So he finally pulled out of the empty lot and took his time getting home.   
_________________________________________

  
  
After that incident the car ride home had been long, wet and tiring. Dozing off here and there behind the wheel, if it hadn’t been for the rubble strips snapping him back awake he might have swerved off the road. Quickly he was starting to learn how unhealthy his full time study was. He was definitely not cut out for this type of thing and had thought he would get a little more freedom if he had started college, but turned out he was just a tad bit wrong about that. As long as Membrane had been paying for school and Dib lived under his roof he had to do what he said. Luckily though he was almost done saving up enough money to move into his own apartment. Of course he’d still come visit his sister and if his dad still wanted to speak to him after he canceled those classes then he wouldn’t mind saying hi to him too. 

Ever since their mom passed nothing was the same. Their mom worked in Membrane labs with their father, but had A LOT more time to spare then their dad. Especially because she chose to work from home most of the time. She was always teaching them new things or telling them cool stories that almost sounded like a fantasy. She was probably part of the reason Dib was into the freaky parascience. She was always the tie. The one that held the family together. 

So after she was gone their father had become more distant and always wanted to do was ‘best’ for Dib. Which was pushing him into the wrong direction. And Gaz well… she just didn't care anymore. She fell into a hobby she was able to distract herself with which was gaming. Games was never in her nature when mom was around. She was always trying to learn something new everyday even if she was just three and loved sitting in the lab with their mother to watch her build a new invention or make blueprints for another one of dad's machines. It’s a little clear that was where Gaz fell into loving robotics and engineering. She too had a knack for psychology and a little of astrology, but getting her hands on something was more of her style. Don't get her wrong she still loves those things obviously if she’s studying them, but she still loved her games and would rather lose herself in that world than be apart of this world sometimes. 

That was the real reason she was always in the zone and would get angry if you interrupted her. The reality of their family falling apart, having to save Dib from stepping off a ledge more than a few times in Hi-Skool and having to possibly carry on the Membrane legacy was too harsh. And that made him remember why his father had been so pushy toward him instead. Gaz was the baby and always will be the baby. Honestly, he was a little glad their father hadn’t pushed her to do anything even if he had thought of it earlier. He would hate to see her carry a burden as heavy as this. 

Although they had a lot of tension though his father was still trying to be better about not pushing him. He was still a LONG way out there, but he was trying. There were even times he would ask about his parascience, he’d make rude little comments here and there but he still listened. And even though he’s complained about the internship his father hadn’t tried forcing it onto him during the last two breaks he was home. Which was very new.   
  
Suddenly his deep thought had been interrupted by the car running over the rubble line again. “Wha--?! Woah...holy shit. Fuck.” The slight panic had not lasted long as he sighed heavily and lightly shook his head. “Stay awake idiot. Come on…” Leaning over a bit he turned up the radio to make the music a little louder. Maybe that would keep him awake.    
  
On the radio Lemon Demon had been playing the most relatable song and he couldn’t help but chuckle. “Touch Tone Telephone…” Eventually he started humming and singing along and luckily it had kept him awake for most of the ride home, but man was he TIRED.    
  
\----   
  
By the time he got home it was already three in the morning and a glow form the tv was still illuminating through the windows. Which meant either Gaz fell asleep on the couch or pulled off one of her great all-nighters. Either way he didn’t care nor question it. All he wanted to do right now was SLEEP.    
  
Slowly he dragged himself out of the car and into the sprinkling night. It wasn’t raining as hard anymore which oddly made him a little sad. He was hoping the hard rain would last all night to help him fall asleep. “Oh well… it might start up again when I get in the house.” Mumbling to himself in a tired tone he grabbed his bag and slammed his door shut.    
  
Just as he guessed his sister was sitting on the couch in an oversized Piggy Doom shirt with a pair of piggy boxers on while she played her games and screamed into her headset. “DON’T CALL ME AN IDIOT! UNLIKE YOU I GO TO COLLEGE AND HAVE A FUCKING JOB WHAT DO YOU GOT DICKWAD?EXACTLY. NOTHING BUT JACK SHIT!”   
  
Dib laughed a bit at the insults and shook his head. “Home sweet home.”   
  
“Oh wait, hold on monkey just came home. AFK.” Gaz moved her mic to the side and glanced over at her brother making his way up the stairs.    
  
“No. Don’t keep them waiting for me. I’m just going to bed. I’m tired.” He added with a strained voice.   
  
“Well hi to you too.” His sister grumbled a bit annoyed.   
  
Stopping midway up the stairs he peeked out to look at his sister again with a tired smile of sarcasm. “Hello my darling baby sister. Oh how I love and missed you so much. You happy?” All he had gotten was a pillow to the face and soft laugh.   
  
“You disgust me. Go to bed idiot. We’ll talk in the morning.” Gaz shook her head and brought the mic back up to her lips to continue her insults. “So where was I? Oh YEAH--!”    
  
From there her voice had faded as he ascended further up the stairs and into his room closing the door behind him. He carefully slumped his backpack over his computer chair, kicked off his shoes, and slipped off his shirt before jumping into bed.    
  
“Ah my familiar old friend. We meet again…” Humming the words softly he nuzzled the fluffy pillow as he pulled the warm comforter over his body and yawned. “I have a feeling we’ll be the best of friends again by the end of spring break~” Smiling a bit to himself he let his eyes fall shut at the sound of the crackling thunder in the night and rain getting heavier once again just as he hoped. Hearing the droplets of rain hitting his window only made the ambience better and aided him into a well deserved deep sleep.

\----------------------------------------------------

  
“Ah Gaz I see you’ve been up playing those games all night again~” The professor was just making his way down the stairs when he caught his daughter plopping on the couch covered in snacks and empty cans with a bowl of cereal.    
  
“Of course. It’s spring break and i’ve done nothing but write reports and study. Never had any game time. Spring break will allow me to finally chill. Unless you’re offering an internship at the lab?”The last bit was only half a joke. She really was interested in her father's work and wanted to be a part of it. But for some odd reason he preferred Dib instead. 

In response the professor gave a half hearted chuckle and continued on into the kitchen. Why exactly didn’t he want Gaz to work in the labs with him? Clearly she wanted to! She always asked and was even taking classes. Maybe he was just too focused on Dib being the same still or thought Gaz was joking?    
  
“Did your brother make it home last night?” He asked before taking a seat at the kitchen table where Foodio had already placed his morning tea and newspaper.    
  
Gaz flicked through some channels on the TV deciding to take a break from her game to eat. “Yeah, but he looked pretty beat down. He didn’t get here till like three in the morning.”   
  
“Ah well at least he came home. I’ll have to speak with him when he wakes up.”   
  
“You’re not going to force the internship thing on him again are you?”    
  
His daughter's question came with nothing but silenced a page turn in the paper. 

“Dad. I thought you said you weren’t going to do that anymore?” Setting down the remote she stood up from the couch with her bowl and made her way over to the table. “You know mom would have killed you for forcing it onto him right? Saying something like… GOD DAMMIT HOWARD IF MY BABY WANTS TO HUNT VAMPIRE BEES THEN LET HIM HUNT THE DAMN BEES! THEY’RE EVIL ANYWAY!” The mockery of her sweet later mother came with a small giggle as she really did see that scene playing perfectly in her mind.   
  
Honestly the professor couldn't hold back his laughter if he could. She had almost sounded exactly like their mother and it was perfect. “Ah. Yes. Mary would have really said something like that.” He nodded his head but kept his eyes on the paper while he sipped his tea. “All jokes aside. You have a point… I just. I really don’t want him to waste his life on this silly parascience nonsense.” Finally getting serious he put down the paper to face his daughter and sighed.    
  
“It’s not silly to him dad. It’s serious. Some of the stuff he’s found actually does seem real as stupid and crazy as it sounds. At least to me it does.” She shrugged, taking a bite of her food.   
  
That sentence only had him sighing and shaking his head hoping she wasn’t going to fall into the same mindset as his son. He didn’t need both of them getting into trouble!    
  
“Ha! I see what you’re thinking dad. No. I’m not going to go bat shit crazy for that crap because honestly I really don’t care. Whether it’s real or not. As long as it doesn’t get in my way there's no reason for me to get into it. But anyways…”   
  
“”I don’t want Dib to end up with nothing. He’s already embarrassed himself and me more than a few times in front of the world by trying to show his ‘proof/evidence’. What kind of job would he get out this anyhow? He’s been on Mysterious Mysteries… if no one believed him I doubt they’ll hire him. I’ve seen those… ‘paranormal investigating’ shows and they just don’t seem real nor believable. They don’t last very long either.”   
  
“He doesn’t have to be famous or on a show to pursue that profession. There are other jobs for that stuff… he could probably become a professor for the history of urban legends and crap like that or be an off camera paranormal investigator that goes to houses to ‘exercise’ a ghost, demon, or whatever is he does… I don’t know.”

His daughter wasn’t really making this any better. How could she be ok with this? If she really did love science the way he did… there was no way. He shook his head and picked up the paper again.    
  
“There are paying jobs out there for those weird things if you’re really that worried about him being able to provide for himself and live a good life. I’m just saying… if doing the paranormal stuff really does make him happy let just let him live his life the way he wants to. You know life hasn’t been easy on him. Losing mom, bullied almost his whole life and literally has no friends but the dead ghost girl on his school campus and the weird chick with the pink hair who eats bread in a really weird way... “   
  
“That is another reason why I don’t want him to continue this silly charade! People look down on him and laugh!”   
  
“...So by studying science you think it’ll make him any better? Whether you believe or not there are people who are still dicks to scientists. You can not tell me you didn’t live some part of your laugh being laughed at for what YOU believed in. Because I know for a fact almost everyone has been through that sort of stage in their life.”    
  


An awkward sip was all the professor offered as his eyes were almost glued to the paper now. She was kind of right…. But still. Damn how she resembled so much to Mary when she said things like that. 

Gaz sighed at the awkward silence and rolled her eyes. He knew she was right and just like her brother he was stubborn to admit it. “I think if he’s going to choose to be bullied or laughed at it should be whatever he decides is worth it. You’ve seen how he gets around science. It's boring and just plain sad. He seems so happy doing stupid things like hunting ghosts, aliens, and weird looking creature things. If he’s willing to take the hits for it then let him. He’ll either learn and move to science on his own or he’ll keep going without caring and find a way to make it successful. But pushing him into something he doesn’t want to do is terrible and mom would NOT approve.” With that the gamer stood from the table as Foodio rolled in to take the empty bowl. “Maybe you should try giving the child that actually had an interest in your profession a chance too.” That last part had been bitten out a little more bitter as she exited the kitchen to plop back onto the couch.    
  
Just as her last words intended to bite her father they did. And pretty hard too as he just peeked from the paper to his daughter angrily flopping on the couch to play with her phone.    
  
Preoccupied with her phone on the couch she didn’t notice her brother standing at the end of the stairs with small droplets in his eyes threatening to stream down his face. Apparently he’d walked in halfway through their conversation. It had been awhile since he’d last seen his sibling defend him like that and it had been just heartwarming. Honestly, he didn't know what to do.Part of him wanted to flop and smother his sister with brotherly affection while the other part of him just wanted to run upstairs and hide until he calmed down. 

The last time Gaz had defended him had also been one of the few times she’s talked him down from taking his life during the roughest patch of high school. When they were kids she was a big bully towards him, joined everyone in laughter, and had even taken some of his paranormal toys to break or steal momentos that meant a lot to him. She had even gone as far as psychologically tripping him out into nightmares of his worst fears for a few months just to get a good laugh. She was NOT a nice sibling then… and that was something she knew now. It wasn’t till she found suicidal letters hiding in a box under his bed when she realized how much he really had been hurting. He’d written how badly he missed their mother, how their father was always disappointed in him and never really proved he loved him, and how much his sister along with the rest of the world hated him for being himself. He’d failed so many times and had tried so many different methods to please everyone, but was still worthless in their eyes. So if they hadn’t really cared about him maybe they wouldn’t miss him and probably wouldn't even notice he was gone if he’d taken his life. He’d heard the term ‘just kill yourself already’ so many times he couldn’t even keep count. And that was including the times he’d considered reply with… ‘ im trying’ . Just reading about that had struck her heart with guilt… was that the real reason he always wore sleeves? A hoodie? A coat? To cover up the failed attempts. Soon after that though she had changed her ways and had even caught him trying to hurl his body off a building on time. That had been the big red flag to get her to stop and see the truth. She never thought she’d feel so much heartbreak and panic seeing him do that despite the times she’s teased about killing him. It was terrifying and not only had she learned but her father had as well.    
  
Dib was so damn stubborn to talk about it, but eventually he’d opened up about the truth and they both had dealt with it reasonably. Maybe their father was a bit of an ass the first few minutes of opening up, but a nice swift kick from his daughter had put him in his place. Even without the kick though there was no doubt the professor had been terribly pained at the sound of his son harming himself and attempting this more than once.

Whether he said it or not. He did love his son very much… sometimes he would slip up and say something wrong or maybe he’d be fathering him the wrong way, but he still loved him. That’s why he had been trying to get better at letting him do what he wanted and sometimes the speeches from his daughter like the one from earlier was just what he needed to be reminded of that.    
  
\--   
  
The final decision Dib had made was to go back to his room and wait out the emotions. Just because his sister loved him didn’t mean she liked the massive amount of affection or wanted him to touch her. So he’d just stay up here until he let it pass. Besides it was probably best he didn’t bring it up… not with his father around. It was nice to know his father didn’t actually care for Dib trying to be exactly like him though. If money and providing for himself was really the problem then maybe he could find a way to prove to him he’d be just fine on his own doing what he loved the most.    
  
\--

After enough time had passed he finally made his way down the stairs and plopped onto the empty space on the couch next to his sister.    
  
“Now that you’re more rested. Good morning stupid... how was your trip last night? Did you fall asleep behind the wheel again?”   
  
“Eh…”He shrugged at his sister and held his hand out as if he was asking for a turn with the remote.    
  
“No not yet.” She held the remote close to her. “You didn’t answer my question.”   
  
“Ugghh fine. Yes I did.”   
  
“Dib you need to rest dammit. I don’t want you doing that crap again! If I find out you’re driving tired as hell again i’m going to kick your ass. I didn’t go throught the trouble of protecting you in high school just for you to go dying in car crash stupid.”She donked his head with the remote and watched him coward down in the couch before takig the remote.   
  
“I’m sorry...I didn’t have a choice MOM.” He teased with the last bit.    
  
“Oh shut up.”    
  
From there the two had been pretty quiet and exchanging small comments and laughter at whatever was on TV. Of course like always though Dib had flipped to his favorite show of the day.

_ “Mysterious Mysteries will begin right after this…”  _   
  
As the tv played in the background the gamer playfully kicked her brother. “So nerd you planning to do any hunting during break?”   
  
“Pfft. I wish.I haven’t been able to do that since I started those stupid classes dad added to my list.” He sighed a bit disappointed as he slumped against the couch and let his head fall back.    
  
“Oh come on dude. Forget about that for a little bit. You look so damn miserable working on those classes. And if you really don’t want to take the classes, talk to dad about it.”   
  
“....Won’t he hate me though?” Obviously after earlier he knew he wouldn’t but why not add to it?   
  
“He shouldn’t.”   
  
“Hm...I don’t know...last time I tried talking about it he just locked himself away or waited till I canceled the classes to add them back on again.”    
  
“I forgot he’s practically best friend with the owner of the school and your professors… I don’t know I think you should give it another shot.If not just quit the school and go to one he doesn’t know too well.”   
  
Dib groaned at the idea.It was a good idea, but all the work he’d have to go through just to change schools. “I’ll try talking to him about it later… right now I just want to watch Mysterious Mysteries.”    
  
Smiling a bit at her brother she playfully kicked him again. All he had done in return was blep and give her a light pinch before turning his attention to the new episode on screen. 

_ “Today on Mysterious Mysteries a mysterious creature in the woods?”  _

“Let me guess… another guy in a chicky licky suit?” He chuckled at the host of the show and watched the intro fade into the interview with some of the guests who had apparently see this ‘creature’.    
  
“Maybe it’s Zim in one of his dumb disguises again.” Gaz chuckled.   
  
“Hah! Probably his bear suit.” Normally Dib would be freaking out at the mention of Zim being part of anything weird, but right now he was just too tired to deal with the bug. Not only that, after the Florpus things had really changed for all of them. Zim had become more curious about earth now rather than wanting to destroy it. Other than his lame attempts at harassing people sometimes because apparently he was still ‘evil’ and had a reputation to uphold.  _ Pfft. Yeah ok.  _   
_   
_ _ “So tell us, young man. What was this… creature you heard. Did you see it at all?” _ The reporter held the mic up to one of the guests and    
  
_ “Uhhh.. yeah. No. It was like this type of alien sound you know? Weird clicking and beamy noises--” _

Dib and Gaz had looked at each other in shock for a moment. Did they honestly just guess it was Zim correctly? Before they could vocalize that though another person had shoved the guy out of the way to take the mic.    
  
_ “Nah ah! That’s a lie! It was a ghost. I heard her screaming out for help! But there was no one around--! _ ”

Now the paranormal investigator was sitting up straight. This actually did sound like a mystery this time. Or maybe it was just jumbled nonsense… Either way it was still better than a man thinking he mutated into a chicken.  
  
 _“LIES IT WAS A BIG MONSTER! I HEARD GROWLING AND I EVEN SAW THESE LOOK!!!”_ _  
_ _  
_Dib watched another character came to the scene showing off a picture of some deep claw marks on the ground. Although that could have easily been an edited printed out picture it was still pretty cool and he was more than willing to give this attention. Maybe he could try to find this thing…  
  
“Wow those are some scary marks! Well you heard it from the campers. This truly is a mystery... What could it be? We’ll never know. Maybe it’s a forest similar to the suicide forest? Or just pure nonsense from a couple of crackheads.”  
  
“Whaaaat?! That’s it! Man that’s nothing to go on.” Dib crossed his arms and threw himself back in his seat with a small pout. “I bet it was just Zim being dumb! Or they really were crackheads.”   
  
Gaz only rolled her eyes with a small chuckle. “Well if that's what you think then why not check it out yourself?”  
  
Dib turned to gaze at his sister with a raised brow and shocked face. She really did want to get him back out there doing this stuff didn’t she? Even though he loved how caring she was now it was still a little odd to see it. Maybe it was just the motherly instincts she picked up on after their mom wasn't around anymore? OR maybe she really did just want to see him genuinely happy… or just wanted to see him get mauled by a Zim bear.   
  
“What? Don’t look at me like that. I was just saying…” She shrugged.  
  
“I think I will try it actually. This case sounds fun… maybe you can join me. Whether you say yes or no completely doesn’t matter because you know somehow I will end up dragging you with me anyway.”   
  
He really did have a point though. The gamer rolled her eyes a little annoyed this time and reached for her switch on the coffee table. “Fine. You’re lucky i’m in a good mood. Normally i’d kick your ass for dragging me into your cases. But I also don’t want your stupid ass to get into any actualy trouble so i’ll go with you.”  
  
“Alright cool.”  
  
“And we should bring Zim too.”  
  
“Ah what?! Why? He’s just gonna mess it all up.Don’t you remember what happened the last time I took him on a case with me?”  
  
“Oh yeah!The haunted house cases!”  
  
“Yeah he kept pissing off the spirit and we couldn’t leave the house until he apologized. The worst month of my life…”  
  
“Yeah I remember you calling me and bribing me into coming to the house to make him apologize cause he was being a stubborn little shit.” She snickered. “But whatever we should still bring him. Plus it’ll eliminate the possibility of him being whatever is harassing everyone in the forest. IF it’s even real.”   
  
Dib groaned once again before pulling out his phone and finding the alien's number. “Fine. BUT HE’S NOT TOUCHING ANY OF MY EQUIPMENT!”   
  
And with that he typed away the invitation to their new quest.   
  



	2. Research?

Meanwhile Zim had been occupying himself on upgrading his PAK. Adding new settings, tools, slightly changing the appearance and more. However his concentration was slightly being broken by the two scream sidekicks upstairs. 

“Weeeeeeeeeeee hoooooooo moooooose! Get him! Get the piiiiggy!!!” Girs voice could be heard through the vents.   
  
“Grrr….” The alien snarled and groaned at the sound of the bot crashing into things and tried his best to keep the needed focus on his project.   
  
“Moose!! You MIsSeD iT!”   
  
Finally having enough he slammed his hands on the table and stood up to storm over to the vent where Gir usually came from. “Grrr agh! Gir! Knock it off. Now! You better not be destroying the base up there!”

And for a good moment the whole base fell dead silent except the soft humming and chattering from the computer and other machines though.   
  
Taking a breath of relief the alien had returned to his work in peace…   
  
‘WE GOT THE PIIIIIIIG!!” The sound of the Sirs voice had been followed by a loud crash and computer warning of an intruder. Normally he’d panic for something like that, but it’s become so often for Gir to trigger that warning he almost always didn’t care about the sound anymore.   
  
With the crash as the last straw he manually dealt with the warning and took the elevator back up to the house where he could find his purple minimoose rolling around in boxes of pizza with Gir.. Along with the mess had been a broken window, a terrified pig squealing away from the base and their base door wide open for the world to peek in. His hand came up to meet his face in disappointment and frustration. Why couldn’t they just behave… once! Just once! After the Florpus minimoose had become a bit more chaotic like the Sir and now he had to deal with not only one but two smeets basically. “Gir. How many times have I told you. NOT TO BRING FILTHY EARTH PIGS INTO THE BASE!”   
  
“oooOOOOooo…” The sir stopped rolling in the pizza and looked up at his master. “I don’t know!” With that he went back to flopping into the boxes of pizza.   
  
“Nyah?” Inimoose bounced up with strings of cheese glued to him as he floated over to greet Zim with a slight attitude.   
  
“Minimoose! How dare you speak to me like that. I am your master. You listen to me. If I say no pigs THEN NO PIGS! AND WHAT IS THIS?! WHY ARE YOU COVERED IN PIZZA! WHERE DID YOU TWO EVEN GET ALL THIS FILTHY FOOD! UGH GOD THE SMELL! GET AWAY FROM ME YOU STINK! MOOSE!” The aliens antennas flattened against his head as he tried his best to keep them away from the smell and softly shoved away the moose. Careful not to touch that disgusting gooey string of so called “Joy”.

“....nYaH” The moose almost sounded like he was mocking his master as he came closer to his face despite the shoving.  
  
“MINIMOo-” Just as he began to scold the moose again he heard his phone ringing on the couch and sighed. Successfully shoving the moose away he moved to close the door and plop on the couch. He picked up his phone to find the big headed pig spamming his messenger. Annoyed at the constant blinging he swiped his phone unlocked and quickly typed a reply.   
  
-IF YOU MESSAGE ZIM ONE MORE TIME HE WILL BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN AND STUFF YOU IN A DUCK SUIT.-

Dib chuckled at the message and rolled his eyes. _How exactly was that threatening?_   
_  
_ _-Wow im so scared to be… a duck.-_   
  
-WHAT DO YOU WANT STINKY!- 

_-Did you even bother to read the messages before the spamming started….-_

The alien blinked at his phone and groaned annoyed scrolling up past the millions of stupid gifs and stickers that earth worm sent him. “Stupid big headed fr--” He had no time to finish his insult when he read about the ‘adventure’ the Dib wanted to go on. 

-CAMPING IN THE WOODS ON THIS FILTHY PLANET WITH WHO KNOWS WHAT….THING LURKING OUT THERE!-  
  
 _-Are you scared?-_   
  
-ZIM FEARS NOTHING DIB PIG!-   
_  
_ _-Then you’ll come with me and Gaz. If not. I’ll unleash my army of Halloweenies on you. :) -_

-..... I absolutely hate you-

-i miss you too alien freak-   
  
Zim only rolled his eyes and locked his phone. Apparently Dib had messaged him about the odd creature he saw on T.V and was planning to go camping in the woods to find it. Of course this wasn’t the first time the earth worm had dragged the alien and the Gaz beast along, certainly wouldn’t be the last either. But still… this time it felt strange. Usually their encounters with freaky mystery things had been spirits and invisible monsters called ‘demons’ so they weren’t all too scary for Zim. After all, most of Irkin survival relied on their eyes. So anything they couldn’t see wasn’t really a threat… psychologically speaking.

_If you can’t see it. You can’t fear it._

Although the fact that he couldn’t blast the invisible creatures with his PAK or didn’t know what to do when Dib got possessed by one of those things IS a little scary. It was still the least of his worries… Maybe it should scare him more but it didn’t. Noton trips to seek creatures in the flesh like this and at night! 

_So why was he getting nervous…?_

Well as much as he’d hate to admit it… most of his fear was probably from not being able to protect his humans if it came to it. And who wouldn't be afraid of an odd looking creature?! He still got spooked by half the wild life on his own planet!

-Do you need help researching this earth monster?-  
 _  
_ _-No it’s ok. Me and Gaz got it…. Actually we might need a little help.-_

-With what. Scratch mark that could possibly be fake are not enough to go on. And neither are those ridiculous stories. Not ALL alien races click and cluck in their language.-

_-Ugh thats all they gave us though! I know it’s not much but just see what you can find and when we meet up we’ll look it all over.-_ _  
_ _  
_ -When are you planning to take this trip?-   
  
_-Hm… well if possible tomorrow or Friday-_

-Zim thinks there is something wrong with you earth monkey.-  
  
 _-I know.-_   
  
-....-   
  
-Who enjoys looking for creatures that could possibly kill them! WHO?!-   
  
_-Me-_   
  
\- ( -_-) I’ll see you tomorrow stinky.-   
_  
_ With that Zim sighed heavily and stood up from the couch. “Minimoose. Gir. Clean up this mess! Then fetch me some of those.. Eh… legend books the Dib gave us a few days ago. I’ll be in the lab researching the new earth monster.”   
  


“Yes my master” Girs saluted with red eyes and hooped on the moose. “Lets go moose!”   
  
“Nyaah!” And they were off to another section of the base!   
  
\----------------------------------   
  
“Wow this is actually really exciting Gaz!” Clinging th=o the laptop and journals in his arms, Dib excitedly made his way to the kitchen table where he sat beside his sister. He laid out everything neatly and bookmarked a few pages that could be related to what they’d seen. “Ok.. I just need to ge--” As he turned to make his way out of the kitchen quickly he ran into his father in the doorway. In almost a snap his excitement wore down into shameful blushing.   
  
“Ah Son! Good afternoon. I see you’re finally awake! You must have had quite a drive if you slept in so late.”   
  


“Ye-yeah. I was a little tired I guess..” 

“You see to be in a dandy mood today! What has you going?” The professor let his arm slip around his sons shoulder as he walked him back to the table. Spotting the paranormal files on the table had him sighing a bit.  
  
“He’s going on a hunt to find a new freak in the woo--” Gaz started but was caught off guard by her panicking brother.   
  
“No i’m not! Just let me pick these things!”   
  
“Ah! Wonderful…. just promise me you won’t get into too much trouble… alright?” Recalling the speech his daughter gave him earlier he decided to go with a more harmless response to his son's interest. And regardless of what he said he knew his son would go on and do it anyway so he might as well express his true concern for him getting hurt rather than trying to fight about him going or not.   
  
Dib froze at the reply and only gave his father a confused gaze. That was the first…. Maybe what Gaz said really did get to him this time. Or was he just being nice because she was around?   
  
Gaz blinked a bit shocked as well. Normally he’d take her speeches with a grain of salt, but this time he actually listened and was trying a little harder.   
  
“Um…” Finally breaking the awkward silence in the room Dib moved to set his things down again. “Thank…. You… I guess?”   
  
The professor nodded and moved on to make his tea.   
  
“So……. anyways…. Gaz you’re better at doing the online research since you’re always on the internet. How bout you--”   
  
“Found something.”   
  
Dib blinked a few times and came to sit beside his sister. “Are you using your phone?”   
  
“Duh.”   
  
“Don’t you usually find more stuff on a computer? That’s how it usually works for me…”   
  
She shrugged. ”Sometimes but listen to this. ‘Me and my sister went on a camping trip with our friend last month as we do once a month to catch up on our lives. One afternoon our friends disappeared on a hike. We had been pulling pranks on each other since we got there so me and my sister thought they were just being jerks and trying to scare us. They were screaming for help and trying to call us over to their hiding spot so they can jump out and scare us no doubt. Something we’ve been through before. So we ignored it and kept hiking. We figured they’d meet up with us or be at the tent by the time we got there, but that didn’t happen. So we became a little worried. But to feel better we told ourselves they were just catching up and went to bed. The next morning we woke up to what sounded like the emergency broadcast sound on park speakers? We were a bit confused because we hadn’t seen any speakers around this park before. We came out to check if our friends had been back yet but there was no sign of them… so We packed up our things and headed to the rangers office to ask for help. On our way out we saw claw marks on the ground and a speaker post that was definitely not there when we drove by.’ Maybe we were just blind?’....”   
  
“Hm...The claw marks sound familiar but the speaker's story does sound odd…”   
  
“..’On our way out the speaker was still going off and even talking about a possible storm or tornado when the sky was clear as day and where we live we never really get tornados out here. Anyways… when we got to the rangers we asked them to help us find our friends and asked when they had gotten new speakers. They told us they had speakers and were working on getting on for our campsite but they hadn’t even gotten one yet. That bit was a little weird and spooky. We never did find our friends though and still to this day we wait for them to come back and wished we would have turned to actually helped them.’”   
  
As Gaz finished the reading the post Dib sat back to ponder.   
  
“This was posted four months ago. The only update I see is from two months ago. It was from the sister.. It says they still haven’t found them but there have been some similar stories as well.”   
  
“Hm… This is really weird. I’ve never heard of anything like this. The speaker bit is what gets me. Maybe they added that in there for kicks?!IT sounds so stupid!”   
  
“Who knows, maybe it’s a haunted speaaaakeeeeerrrrr~” Gaz chuckled as she wiggled her fingers in her brother's face.   
  
He only rolled his eyes and shoved her hand away. “No there’s gotta be more to this. Let's keep looking. I’m going to go grab my laptop! I’ll be right back.”   
  
As Dib ran off their father returned to Gaz. “That story… sounds quite unnerving Gaz. I really don’t want you two getting caught up in whatever those psychopaths are doing out there! This doesn’t even sound like one of his normal parascience cases! This sounds like murder with a made ghost lamp! Please Gaz. Be very careful with what you two are doing. Don’t forget there is real crime out in the wild. I’d hate to see one of you hurt or worse… killed!”   
  
Sighing a bit Gaz sat back in her seat nodding her head. “Yes dad I know…. But trust me Dib has pulled me into worse.If you even knew the amount of ti--” That line had only made her father more concerned and angry. The small glare he’d given her had her changing the subject quickly. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t get in any trouble and will try my best to keep us safe. Alright dad? Besides we don’t even know if these stories are even real. They could just be made up of bull crap by kids who like giving a good scare...” She shrugged.   
  
Still unconvinced he sighed and shook his head. Why couldn’t his children just enjoy being in the comfort of their own home? Enjoy science… Well it ‘s not like science was any safer but still!! At least he would be able to do something about it! Them disappearing in the woods was out of his control. “....Fine. But if you need ANYTHInG…” He rested a hand on his daughters shoulder as he gazed at her with worried eyes. 

“I will call you right away and we will get out of there as soon as possible. I promise.”

The only response she got in return was a heavy sigh and shaking head as he made his way out of the kitchen. “MY my Mary… the little monsters we created.” He mumbled and sipped on his tea.  
  


Walking past his father again his excited sprint took on a more slow still embarrassed walk as he made it back to the table with his laptop and more journals. “So did you look at the journals yet?”  
  
“Huh? Oh yeah no I forgot.” She shrugged and picked up one of his leather journals to flip through it. In reality she didn’t forget she just didn’t want to tell him there father was getting worked up about it again. She couldn’t exactly complain though. He had every right to worry. After all, there really were psychopaths and sick people in this world to sorry about still. Not only that getting mauled by an actual wild animal was a dangerous possibility as well. And it’s not like she wasn’t a little scared of the real world or what might happen if they go out in the wild either. She was! But she wasn’t going to talk her brother out of it. That was one thing she couldn’t do. So she would go with him and do her best to keep that dummy alive and with a little help from his alien boyfriend too~ He could deny his feelings all he wanted but she knew those two weirdos had something going on.   
  
\----------------------------------------   
  
Meanwhile Zim was flipping through an old book of Urban legends Dib gave him and the few Gir had stolen from the library when him and Inimoose were in a… ‘scary mood’.   
  
“Stinky human and his stupid stinky earth beats! Why must he insist on dragging me with him on every stinking case. “He mumbled a little annoyed and spooked at the creatures he flipped through. The page he had stopped on so far was of the chupacabra.” He shivered at the memory that came to mind. “What a horrible vacation! Zim never wants to visit the Mexican country again! That beast was HUGE!! AND I NEARLY DIED!” He screamed in terror at the little moose as it only smiled.   
  
“Nyaaah!”   
  
“INIMOOSE! THAT IS NOT FUNNY!”   
  
“I thoughts they only ates goats and cows…” Gir asked curiously.   
  
“Yes. They do but DIB STINK decided to use ME as bait! He poured goats blood on me and used those damn handcuffs to keep me from even moving! Stupid stinky… idiot… “ Zim groaned annoyed. “Not only that it was the same week we ran into that god forsaken CuCuy thing whatever it was called!” He shook his head and sighed. “There were a lot more children monsters…. Those scare Zim a little more than the other creatures.” He shivered. The main one he feared on their trip to Mexico was La Llorna. By the tallest did he HATE her. It just gave him an uncomfortable chill down the spine and an uneasy feeling. It almost felt like that story was not just for children but adults as well… even if he didn’t have any smeets or was a smeet himself anymore.It was still scary! He never wants to hear that wailing… EVER. 

“Nyah!”  
  
“What is it Inimoose?”   
  
“Nyaahhh!”   
  
“Oh? You found something about the new earth beast?” He reached over to grab the book the moose was floating over and skimmed through the page. “Hmm Windigos?and...” He flipped to the other page Inimoose bookmarked. “Skinwalkers? Bleehhh” He stuck his tongue out in disgust at the pictures and groaned. Just the images alone were horrid! And the bio of them was even worse!! Is this what they were dealing with? “I really hope stink boy doesn’t follow through with this one! One is an odd human that shapeshifts and kills and the other is just a monster human that eats other humans! Disgusting!... Humans are too salty and stink why eat them?” The cannibalism wasn’t really what bothered Zim. Just the fact that anyone would even want to eat a human. They just didn’t look too tasty. Irkins on the other hand…   
  
“Nyah?”   
  
“Yes Inimoose you did good!” He replied to the moose with a cutsie happy tone and gave a small blep. “Let’s try and find more just in case.” 

“Maaaaassteerrr… can we comes with you?”  
  
“Eh… I’m not to sure about that yet Gir.” That idea had the alien cringing and groaning a bit. These two have been nothing but trouble and they would definitely get in the way or maybe even attract the monster towards them! Whos to say the dumb human wouldn’t either but still! They would make it worse. “No. Absolutely not. I would rather you not come Gir it’s too dangerous.”   
  
“Aww…” He rolled around screaming and throwing a tantrum for a good ten minutes leaving his master to hold his antennas in pain.

Honestly Zim was used to it by now.Just let the bot have his tantrum and would all be ok again. Sometimes.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------   
  
“Did you find any other stories on this thing Gaz?”   
  
“Um...I found a few more.” She yawned and sighed a little bored. “But i’m getting kind of tired and bored Dib why don’t we take a break? We’ve been at this for hours.”   
  
“But Gaz!”   
  
“Look you’ve already circled a few cryptids it could be and you even found a few new ones. That something so far..”   
  
Dibs only reply was a small pouty huff as he ket his eyes on the laptop screen.   
  
“Mysterious Mysteries will be on again tonight~”   
  
He perked up a bit and peeked over at his sister. “Rerun of this mornings bullcrap.”   
  
“You don’t know that. Maybe it’s something different… or maybe they continue where they left off this morning? You’ll never know~” she stood up from the table to grab a few snacks and pop before going to plop on the couch in the living room. “Either way i’m taking my break. Have fun.” She sighed and grabbed the tv remote to turn on the tv. 

Sighing in reply Dib looked back at his book to look at the suspects so far. “Wendigos, Skinwalkers, Wander Frau, possibly werewolves? Nah… Hmm. but the radio or speaker thing… maybe a ghost? A shapeshifter.” As he looked over his work he could hear mysterious mysteries playing in the background before she moved on to a different channel. ‘No. Don't give in, it's probably just a crappy rerun…’ He bounced his leg annoyed as he tried to focus, but was failing to as he heard the channels surf over the show again. “Just pick a damn channel already Gaz!’   
  
“Guess i’ll just play a ga-- ahh! Dib what the hell?!” She hit her brother with her pillow as she watched him dive onto the couch for the remote changing back to Mysterious Mysteries.   
  
She only rolled her eyes and sighed. “I knew you couldn’t resist watching your dumb show~” Chuckling a bit she took her pillow back and rested back up against the couch.   
  
“Sadly enough Dib was correct it was a crappy rerun but that didn’t stop him from finishing the episode. Gaz had mentioned there was probably something in the picture they didn’t see. If the picture was even real then maybe they would find something and they did. It wasn’t much but it was something. In the background there was an oddly shaped tree. Honestly it kind of looked a little like skin...or some kind of twisted rusted metal. But maybe they were just looking too much into it.   
  
After the episode ended He handed the remote back to Gaz and propped his feet up on the coffee table. “Uggghh. This is so weird. Usually I’m able to find what these things are.. Maybe its a fake.”   
  
“Or something no one has discovered yet. Or maybe they did discover it and died. Just like the story I read to you earlier.”   
  
“Eh i guess.” Shrugging a bit he let his head fall back and his gaze stick to the ceiling. Maybe he could call one of the agents about this. Nessie usually knew about stuff like this so maybe she could help.   
  
“Don’t trip over it right now. Just take a break. Here.” Gaz shoved one of her controllers in his hand and picked up her own. “You make me do your stupid research. So you owe me by playing games with me. You suck at actually killing things so you’ll have to build the base so the zombies wont kill us. And give it good protection or i’ll throw you in the pit the next time the blood moon rises.”   
  
Dib blinked at the controller for a second before giving it a small smile. He wasn’t really into video games but it was nice spending time with his sister like this again and building their base was usually fun too so why not take the break. “Alright… just please try not get caught in the wood spikes again.”   
  
“Maybe you should build them better!” She stuck her tongue at him annoyed and got a cackle in return.   
  
“At least I can build a base! Miss i’m the best at gaming!”   
  
“Whatever loser!”   
  
From there the sibling playfully shoved each other and exchanged little insults here and there along with terrified screams of random zombies jumping at them in the night.   
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes. It is possible that... Irkins are cannibalistic. Imagine that. Hm.


	3. Taking a Break?

After a few hours of building their base and killing zombies the siblings had fallen asleep on each other. Gaz had her foot shoved in her brothers face and took up all the space. While Dib was lying halfway off the couch and starting to slowly fall the more she shoved him away in her sleep.

He hit the floor with a loud thud before jumping awake and looking around to see his sister rolling over on the couch and groaning annoyed. All he could do was sigh and chuckle as he stood up from the floor. _'Huh I didn't even notice we fell asleep...'_ He cleaned up what he could for now and put things away where they belonged knowing his OCD would eat at him if he hadn't.

"So you're finally awake, stinky?"

"AHHH!!" Dib stumbled back startled by the sudden voice and fell to the ground. Watching the chips he put away fall out of the cover and spill on him. He groaned angrily and sat up to peek his head over the table where the alien sat with Gir eating their food. "Why the hell do you keep coming into my house unannounced!!"

"I didn't. Your... 'dad' let me in. But you were too busy snoring away like a pig that I decided to make myself comfortable until you woke up. You should be honored Zim enjoys being in your stinky home! Inferior earth worm."

"Ok geeze.. whats up with you? Why are you being so grumpy? Old man."

"SHUT UP!" Zim shouted angrily at the human. "For your INFORMATION WORM BABY...Zim is... Zim is worried."

Dib had gone from glaring to confused as he picked up the chips and threw them away. "What do you mean worried?"

"Zim has found possible cryptids for what you call an 'adventure'" The alien air quotes annoyed. 

"Oh really?! What are they?" After throwing the chips away he happily slipped into the seat next to Zim to look through his journal. "Which of all of these is it?"

"A...Windigo? Or Skinwalker I believe. But Dib stink this is dangerous. There's no real way to escape these... skin creatures if you make eye contact! And Windigos---"

"You can draw a protective barrier in native script and wait til sunrise! Light usually hurts their eyes so they'll most likely go away..."

"DIB STINK THAT IS NOT THE POINT! THE POINT IS THESE THINGS ARE DANGEROUS AND CAN GET YOU KILLED! THE FACT THAT THEY CAN'T ACTUALLY DIE IS TERRIFYING EVEN FOR ZIM!"

"Pffft. Big scary invader afraid of a little Urban legend~"

Zim glared at him with a small twitch in his eye before wrapping a PAK leg around his body and squeezing him tightly. "You are going to die one day stinky because of your careless acts. Until you learn to take this specific creature seriously Zim will not release you. And i'm sure your sister would feel just as upset that you treat this like you humans call sightseeing."

"By how tight you're squeezing I'd say you'll be the death of me..." The human gasped before he was given another tight squeeze for ignorance. "Yes. Ok. I'll take it seriously.. .please let go.." He barely breathed.

It took the invader a moment to let go but he did. "Now just in case these two are what we find. I suggest we take blindfolds. ESPECIALLY for YOU. Zim can not keep you from going out into the woods on your own and I don't trust you not to escape any prison I make for you in my base. Knowing you you'll find a way out and go poking your nose in places they don't belong." His PAK leg poked Dibs nose before going back to hiding.

Dib scrunched his nose at the poke and glared at the alien. "I don't need it. I'm sure I can avoid eye contact."

"Are you trying to make a funny Dib thing because it isn't working."

He rolled his eyes at the alien and pulled up his own research. "I don't think it's a Windigo or Skinwalker anyways. Look at the stuff me and Gaz found. For some reason radios and sirens end up playing a role in the background. And when it mimics a sound there's a slight static sound in the background. It makes no sense. And look at the picture they showed on mysterious mysteries! Showing off the picture on his laptop screen, he pointed out the odd body in the background blending with the trees. “That looks like legs and maybe claws! Who knows how tall this thing is and it looks like it's probably made of trees. Maybe a forest sprite… but not a Windigo or Skinwalker. You worry too much Zim.”

Zim raised a brow at the similar short stories and reports on the screen. “Being cautious still doesn’t hurt Dib Monkey. And that is not wood… it is rust. Zim can tell the difference. BEcause i’m amazing.” This really was curious though... "But anyhow… Zim remembers hearing about these stories and something similar from his friend at McMeaties."

"Really?"

"He said one of his playmates had gone camping with their sister and she had gone missing afterwards. Then he said he saw something in the woods but wouldn't say much after that. He said it was too 'unbelievable and scary' and that was all Zim got from his friend. Zim just thought he was telling another spooky story or just being crazy."

"Do you think maybe you can get that guy's number from your friend? We can probably ask him more about it. Also...don't ever call friends. Play mate again... that's just... awkward." He shook his head and watched the alien pull out his phone.

"Dib-stink i've been on earth long enough to know that pushing for answers from someone who doesn't want to talk about it is wrong."

"And do you care about earth customs...."

Fair point, but still. He didn't want to be on bad terms with his friend at McMeaties. He was the only other human he liked on this dirt ball of death and pigs.

"Fine human. Have it your way." He sighed and pulled up his friend to send him a text.

Meanwhile on the couch Gaz had woken up to Gir jumping into her lap to play the zombie game still open on the screen.

"Oh yay... they're here to visit." She groaned annoyed as she turned to face the screen and pet the green dog in her lap. Well at least it was Gir who woke her up. From the time they spent with those two she'd grown quite attached to the chaotic little SIR and had even taught him how to annoy Zim with random memes and curse words. She knew how much Zim loved treating the bot like a smeet and it was fun watching him scold the little bot whenever he heard a bad word. “Are you trying to kill a zombie with a stick?” She raised a brow at the screen as she watched the robot trying to beat a zombie with a stick. 

“DIIIIIE BIIIITCH!”

“GIR! KEEP THOSE FILTHY WORDS OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!” WHAT HAS ZIM TOLD YOU ABOUT THAT!” 

Both the gamer and little bot giggled at the aliens yelling from the kitchen. 

“You don’t let Gir curse? But you curse all the time.”

“SHUT UP STINKY! I DO NOT!... SOMETIMES. ZIM DOES NOT WANT HIS-- ehh… Gir saying such vulgar things!” 

‘You do know the raves and clubs he goes to are vulgar… right? Dry humping, curse words, drugs, and---”

“STOP TALKING!” The alien shouted at the human angrily as he shoved him out of his seat and pouted in his own. 

“Oh my god for fuck sake. Will the both of you just shut the fuck up! Your voices are making me sick!” Gaz snarled annoyed as she came into the kitchen to throw a pillow at them both before raiding the fridge for a drink.

Zim only pouted in his seat more with his arms crossed as he gave the human on the floor a kick.

‘Ow! Hey!” Dib sat up quickly to glare at the alien. 

“Grr… Did your friend say anything yet Zim”

"I just barely texted him Dib stink he’s probably at work right now. I don’t expect to get an answer anytime soon.”

“Aw man...fine. Then i’ll be right back. I have to make a call.” He picked up his computer and notes on this new creature before rushing upstairs. 

“Where is dib stink going? And who is he calling?”

“Probably that weird agent network of freaks.” She shrugged as she plopped in a seat at the table. “What did you find on all this so far.”

"Well as Zim said to the Dib monkey. There’s a possibility that this thing can be a Windigo or Skinwalker.”

The sound of those names made Gaz cringe. Even she knew those things were dangerous and creepy. “Are you kidding me? Aren’t those things impossible to get away from if they catch you?! I mean maybe not a Skinwalker cause those don’t usually show up in the woods but a Windigo… they’re still just as bad.”

“Yes! But Dib stink thinks it’s easy to deal with one!” 

“Of course he does. He’s an idiot. He thinks just because we’ve caught a Windigo sleeping in the woods once that he can get around them so easily. We were lucky that thing didn’t hear us! And even luckier that we had no karma for spotting one!”She sighed heavily and shook her head. “Why couldn’t he just be into something stupid like stamp collecting or rocks?”

“However...there is one thing Zim finds odd about this case. Sirens? Radios? That does not sound related to the Windigo. Maybe the new monster from the mystery show is a joke or a lie made up by humans?”

“No Zim. There's people who have actually gone missing because of this thing.”

“Yes but there are also scary humans who kidnap people in the woods. Zim would know….one tried to kidnap me. But Zim will not go into deal with what happened after that.”

Gaz rolled her eyes and sipped on her drink.

“Maybe the creepy humans made a myth or something to cover up the murdering?”

“Maybe. But now that’s even creepier to think about. I forgot so easily how crazy people can get in this world.” Her fingers tapped on the soda can nervously as she bit her lip and pondered over the idea. Zim was right, but then again who would go through all the trouble? It was too much to create scratch marks as big as almost 8 feet on the floor or even find a tornado siren or whatever they used to make siren noises. What was unexplainable was hearing sirens or speakers where there wasn't any around. Or even some people saying they could hear their loved ones but never seen them around... “I don't think that would be the case though… some of these details do sound inhuman. I know some of these pictures could also possibly be photoshopped but some people that have posted their photos show things that just look… too real to be faked.” 

“Eh… Either way. Zim is still concerned. The last case he dragged us into almost got you both killed. Zim had barely been able to save you last minute. I will never step foot into a haunted asylum again.” He looked down sadly as the memory came back to mind. One minute they were walking down a creepy hall the next they were being dragged away and thrown into the broken elevator by an invisible force. If Zim hadn’t caught up on time to pull them out they would have crashed with the elevator. They were pretty high up. After that he insisted they left but again had to spend a few hours getting lost in a loop before the human finally found a way to break the ungodly endless looping. It felt like the more they had gone on the more he was getting older, tired, and crazy.

“Yeah I don’t think I could step foot in another abandoned place either.” Gaz sighed and shook her head.   
  
“FUUUUUUCK” Gir screamed in the living room as he kept playing the zombie game.   
  
“GIR WHAT DID I SAY!!”

\-----------------------------------------------------

Dib could hear the alien screaming at the SIR from his room but only rolled his eyes as he pulled out his old eyeball case from under the bed. He blew the dust off and smiled softly as a few nice memories came up. It’s been so long since he’s used this or talked to the agent. He opened the case to reveal the laptop he used to connect to the agents.   
  
Once he had slightly cleaned off and set it up. He gave the agents a call.

“Agent Mothman? You’re still alive?! We thought you died!...” The dark figure on the screen looked almost annoyed as a voice in the back could be heard saying.   
  
‘Well that's a disappointment’   
  
And another saying   
  
‘What a damn shame’   
  
“Well. What is it? What little bug did you find in the woods this time?”   
  
“...Wow. I feel loved.” Dib mumbled to himself a bit sadly. “Actually… I wanted to speak to Agent Nessie. I only called the group because I don’t remember her channel.” At least that agent actually enjoyed talking to Dib and was a little more useful at the moment. She knew more about lores than the rest of the group. Each agent had their own thing. Of course now she mainly worked with water lores but she still had knowledge about old cryptids so maybe she’d be able to help out with what was going on.   
  
The group grumbled but quickly gave him the correct info to contact her and were more than happy to get rid of him.   
  
“Alright. And here we go…” He stuck out his tongue a little focused as he put in her info and gave her a call. There was a small pause before her figure showed up on the screen.   
  
“Agent Nessie here-- Mothman?! Is that you?”   
  
“Yes...Are you upset I'm alive too?”   
  
“On the contrary! I’m glad you are. What is it you need today Mothman? And where have you been all this time? It’s been years!”   
  
“Thats… new… heh. Well… I’ve been working and going to school.”   
  
“Ah yes. I almost forgot that you’ve grown over the years. Anyhow, what lore have you come seeking today?

“Well i’m not sure to be completely honest. It’s something new… Someone I know thinks its a Windigo, but I don’t think so.”  
  
Well details! details!”   
  
“It seems tall in the pictures I saw and has almost rusty skin?I If that makes any sense… It lives in the forest, leaves large scratch marks, mimics voices/animals/aliens/radios/ etc…”   
  
“Hmmm… that does sound quite interesting. It is most certainly NOT a Windigo. Where are you hearing this from?”   
  
Dib froze for a moment and looked away nervously. Why? Because Mysterious Mysteries and The Swollen Eyeball Network don’t get along. “Um..from a friend?”” Technically he wasn’t wrong. Zim said his friend had gone through it.   
  
“Not very convincing, but whatever. Anyhow, given that your friend is alive I wou--”   
  
“His sister went missing. And i’ve stumbled upon a few resources where others are telling the same story but it's kind of different. Some say they heard radios before they left their camp, the sound of their friend crying and screaming but it had a weird static sound to it, or random creatures that sounded terrifying. As if it was something more than a bear or wolf.”   
  
“Hm… This lore doesn't sound familiar. Perhaps its a joke? Or maybe something new...”   
  
“Why would everyone make a joke out of this?... It doesn’t sound like it to me.”   
  
Nessie sighed heavily and shook her head. “I’m not sure Mothman. If you gain any more knowledge from this, come back to me. For now i’ll try to piece together what I can from what you told me and look into it. I’ll call you when I think of something.”   
  
“Thank you Agent Nessie.” 

“And Agent Mothman...please be very careful. I know you’ll be staying in those woods. There are real criminals out there. And if this is a creature we don’t know quite yet what it does. It could collect humans, eat them, use them for sacrifices, etc...”  
  
“Yes. I know… thank you.” And with that they said their last goodbye and hung up.   
  
After their talk Dib had returned to the living to catch Gaz teaching Zim how to play the zombie game while Gire was in time out.   
  
“So what did they say?” Gaz asked her brother as she kept her eyes on the screen.

“What did who say?”   
  
“Oh come on don’t act dumb. I know when you don’t know a lore you go to talk to those weird agents.”   
  
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. So um Zim… “   
  
“Dib stink if you ask about the text one more time I will jab you in the eye. Zim will not rush his friend. NOW SILENCE. I AM TRYING TO KILL THIS ZOMBIE!”   
  
“So have you decided on what we should take for the hunt dummy?”   
  
“Not yet. Since i’m not quite sure what it is. So far though in case by any odd chance it is a Windigo i’ll take the stuff to get rid of it.”   
  
“Please don’t say it is. I really don’t want to be haunted by that thing for the rest of my life. Really Dib why can’t we just leave this one a mystery and move on?”   
  
“Because GAZ… I want to find out what it is. And aren’t you the one who tried convincing me to do this?!”   
  
“Yes but now that i’m seeing how dangerous this is I really don’t want to do this. Can we try maybe going to an abandoned amusement park instead?”   
  
“No--- Actually you know what? That actually sounds pretty fun too. We’ll do that after! Or maybe we’ll find one on our hunt! That would be cool.”   
  
Gaz rolled her eyes and shook her head. ‘ _Why do I even try with him anymore.’_

As far as having thing for the hunt. I don’t really have much other than the usual stuff in the trunk.   
  
“You mean your trunk of glorious weapons that could totally get you arrested?”   
  
“Pffft. There's a hidden compartment Gaz.”   
  
“Uh tHeY cAn TaKe tHE cAr ApaRt MoNKeY..” She mocked him with a dumb tone.   
  
“HOW DARE YOU EVEN BRING UP SOME NIGHTMARE LIKE THAT! That’s my precious car…” Dib pouted angrily on the couch.   
  
“Why does the Dib thing even like that car? It’s weird and outdated.” Compared to the new cars and how close they look to some Irkin hover cars on Irk. Zim didn’t understand why Dib preferred something old fashioned than something that looked futuristic. To Zim it seemed more like his style… but then again. The Imapala really did fit the stink boy. The rock and roll or aesthetic music he liked to play on their trips while sneaking a smoke or two just made Dib look quite perfect. Very similar to a show Zim had seen before but whatever. It was still nice. 

“MY IMPALA IS NOT OLD. Well.. kind of. BUT SHE’S STILL BEAUTIFUL AND I PREFER HER THAN ANYTHING ELSE.”  
  
“Did you just personify your car?” Zim asked, confused. “It is a thing not a living cr--”   
  
“Ep ep ep. Stop it right there Zim. You do not know how much he LOVES his car enough to personify her.”   
  
“For your information. My car got me through a lot. She was my only friend when I went on paranormal trips without you guys. And.. the only thing i had to get away when things weren’t going right here at home. I actually earned my car and didn’t have to use dad's money to buy it.”   
  
Gaz felt a slight sting in her heart at the home comment but chuckled when he mentioned earning his car. She knew exactly how he ‘earned’ it. IT was an odd story, but sort of cute.   
  
“My baby is special to me. MY impala is like your SIR to you Zim.”   
  
“Zim does not grow attached to things like you stinky. Zim is Irkin. Irkins have no emotions.”   
  
“Oh really so you’re not worried like you said you were earlier?”   
  
“No, because Zim was… lying. To see if your dummy brain would react and not… um… go ot the camp?.”   
  
“Hm ok.” Dib nodded at the bullshit response and chuckled. “Then I guess you wouldn’t mind if I took Gir apart and used him for a new invention?”   
  
Zim placed the controller down and leaned towards Dib with all six of his PAK legs out and ready to stab. “Touch him for one of your puny pathetic machines and i’ll end your life Dib worm.”   
  
Dib raised a brow at the alien with a sly smirk. “No emotions huh?”   
  
“Your point proves nothing Dib stink.” Zim sat back down and grabbed the controller as the legs went back to hiding. “Zim stands by what he said.”   
  
“Ok whatever… “ Dib rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Anyways… As I was saying. My trunk is only full of a few basic things at the moment. Not too crazy like it used to be. And if needed there are a few hidden toys in the car as well.”   
  
“Of course. There’s never a time you’re not prepared.” Gaz smiled a bit as she shook her head.   
  
“There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s saved me quite a few times while I was at school. You’d be surprised at the amount of paranormal activity that goes on when you’re in college. Even the city it’s in is haunted.”   
  
“Hello children~” The professor joined the group happily as he sat in the chair next to the couch with his tea.   
  
‘Hey dad.”   
  
“How are my lovely children and their friend today?”   
  
“Eh.” they all shrugged.   
  
“What were you all talking about? Ghosts and the parascience I assume?”   
  
“Of course. Have you known us to ever talk about anything else when we’re around Dib?”   
  
“Ahahah yes. True.” The professor chuckled at his daughters comment.   
  
“It’s a way of life and it’s valid.” Dib pouted in his seat as he watched Zim play the game.   
  
“Hm. Yes… anyhow. I decided to take the rest of the day off and was wondering if you three would like to join me?”   
  
“For what?”   
  
“Well perhaps dinner? And a game?”   
  
Gaz paused her game to look at him. “You mean like… hang out as family?”   
  
‘Of course what else would I mean?”   
  
‘“That’s new… You rarely ever spend time with us.” Dib added. “Are you up to something?”   
  
“Is it a crime to spend time with my family? I try my best, you know. It’s not always my fault that we don’t get enough time together. I have lots of work to keep up with in the labs to make sure, not only my employees, but the world is safe.” The professor honestly felt a little hurt that his children felt this way. He really was trying..after their mother died things became a lot more difficult. “I am sorryI never have enough time for you two.”   
  
The sincere tone in his voice had the siblings feeling a little bad for assuming something else. “It’s fine dad. We just aren’t used to you actually wanting to spend time with us.”   
  
“And not trying to shove your science religion down my throat…” Dib muttered before getting smacked by a pillow. “Ow! What? It’s true…” he pouted getting smacked with the pillow by his sister again. 

“Hmm.. Well I was thinking we could maybe go out for dinner and maybe play some minigolf?”  
  
The last bit had Gaz chuckling a bit. “Minigolf?”   
  
“Yes. There’s an indoor one that glows in the dark and is space themed. Which i’m sure Dib and Zim would enjoy.”   
  
“Heh?” Zim raised a brow. “Are you inviting me as well?”   
  
‘Why of course. You are their friend are you not and you’ve been around enough to become part of the family? I enjoy having you around and so do my kids. Especially Dib~”He teased his son a bit before taking a sip of his tea.   
  
“Dad… it’s not like that.” Dib blushed and groaned a bit.   
  
“Well i’m up for it. It’s kind of dorky, but I guess it’ll be fun.”   
  
“Yeah. It does sound kind of fun.”   
  
As the siblings took the invitation the alien was a bit frozen in shock. Family? He knew at this point he was close to the stinky beasts and had heard them mention it a few times. But to hear out out loud from the Professor was… different. It had him feeling strangely happy.   
  
“Ziiim? Hello?!” Gaz waved her hand in front of his face.   
  
“Oh! Uh“Yes! Zim also thinks it would be fun.”   
  
“OOoooos Can I goooos?!” Gir screamed happily.   
  
“Of course little talking green dog thing.” The professor smile behind his coat as he pet Girs head softly.   
  
And so the siblings cleaned up the living room and got everything ready to be on their way.   
  
“So who’s car are we taking?” Gaz asked.   
  
“Hmm.. Dib wou--”   
  
“Of course I would.”   
  
The professor chuckled at the sound of excitement in his sons response. That boy really did love his car didn’t he? “Alright then. That answers our questions.”   
  
After locking up the house and turning on the yard security fence they settled into Dibs car. Gaz and Zim had quite literally fought for the front while the professor decided to sit in the back. It was very roomy and a little more comfortable. He had to admit the car was a beauty and understood slightly why his son loved it so much. The interior was a gorgeous crimson red while the exterior was a nice shiny black. There were a few charms hanging in the car here and there that looked quite odd. They seemed to be part of the parascience interest though and his wheel cover had those… pentacles on them? Eh whatever. The car was still nice and he promised himself h’d be nicer about his sons interests…   
  
“WILL ONE OF YOU JUST SIT DOWN!” Dib shouted annoyed at the two fighting for the seat.   
  
Zim took the opportunity to shove the stunned Gaz out of the way and sit in the front seat. He stuck his tongue out at her with a mocking smile before getting the door slammed in his face.   
  
It’s not that she didn’t want to sit next to her dad or anything she just liked being in the front. And who wouldn’t?   
  
“So where are we going to eat today?”   
  
“Bloatys!” Gir shouted happily.   
  
“Hmm. Actually yes that sounds great.” The professor nodded with a smile.   
  
“Oh yeah. Great… Bloatys..” Gaz groaned a bit.   
  
“Ah yes. I forgot you recently got a job there… hmm. Then how bout a nice restaurant?”   
  
“Where though?” Dib added.   
  
As the family decided on their food Zim decided to play with the radio. This car really was old. It had a cassette player. Curiously he pushed the eject button to see what tape Dib had been listening to. As the tapped popped out he carefully took it out and read the top. “Hmm.. a mix tape?” He flipped the tap to read the other side. “Lemon Demon, Teddy Hyde, The TaxPayers, and HARLEY POE?! DIB THING! His songs are so...disturbing... “   
  
“HEY!”Dib snatched the cassette from Zims hand with a dark blush. “Don’t judge me. I only like a few of his songs… ok? And don’t go through my music!” He reached over to pull open his glove compartment and switched the tape with some music that was more familiar to his loved ones. They really did not need to know what music he listened to. They already thought he was weird enough. “Here.” He shoved the tape in Zims hands. “Does this look more “normal” to you?”   
  
Zim looked down at the new mx tape. This one had alot of what they humans called classical rock. Led Zeplin, Queen, Ac/Dc, Nirvana, etc. And from what he got a peek of in the compartment there were a lot more classical rocks in there as well. “Zim does not judge you Dib thing… well ok maybe a little bit.” He shivered as bits of Harley Peo songs came back to haunt him. Just imagining Dib enjoying that music or even singing along! Had him a little scared. “Everyone… likes their own thing I suppose. This seems much more normal to Zim..” He popped in the rock tape and the first song that played was ‘Evil Walks’ by Ac/Dc.   
  
“Hmm I got it!” The professor announced in the backseat. How about we try the new steakhouse by the mall.”   
  
“Sounds good to me.” Gaz shrugged as she pulled her GameSlave out while her dad softly jammed out to the song in the backseat. Now if only he’d take the time to hang out with Dib normally he’d see how him and Dib are so similar. They both obviously have the same taste in this kind of music, cars, and even like piercings. Yes… their father had piercing and Gaz was pretty sure he had a few tattoos hiding under that lab coat.   
  
“Alright then. To the Steakhouse we go~” Nodding at the decision made, dib pulled out of the driveway and off they went to the restaurant. And the whole way there he couldn’t help but keep looking back shocked at he=is father discreetly rocking out to the music.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry i'm very shitty at naming chapters on my own and just writing anything in general lol  
> I'm also sorry I haven't updated in so long i've been busy with drama. Life is a beach. Anyhow enjoy the new chapter~ Don't be afraid to leave comments! It's nice to get feedback <3
> 
> P.s. Can we talk about how adorable the professor is in the back seat trying to hide how cool he really is?

**Author's Note:**

> I was reading some made up urban legends/'true' based urban legends and became curious to how Dib would react to some...Then thought about more of his paranomal encounters and so here I am trying to write something cool. It might not be awesome but oh well ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 
> 
> There maybe ZaDr later not sure yet~


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